Yesterday, the Boston Red Sox officially signed Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million contract. He will wear No. 2.
He is the third Red Sox player to wear No. 2 since Xander Bogaerts departed for San Diego after the 2022 season. Justin Turner wore it in 2023, and Dom Smith wore it in 2024.
Bogaerts replaced Jacoby Ellsbury as Red Sox No. 2 when Ellsbury departed for the Yankees after the 2013 season. Other wearers have included world-class asshole Carl Everett, “Impossible Dream” infielder Mike Andrews, and (perhaps most notably) Jerry Remy.
Does this make No. 2 the best non-retired Red Sox number? Maybe. Other candidates include Nos. 24 (Manny Ramirez and Dwight Evans), 11 (Hideo Nomo, Bill Mueller, Clay Buchholz and Rafael Devers), and 7 (Dom DiMaggio, Trot Nixon, and JD Drew).
For the other teams I follow, I think 19 is the best non-retired Bruins number (Joe Thornton, Tyler Seguin), 4 for the Celtics (Jim Paxson, Nate Robinson, Jason Terry, Isaiah Thomas, Jrue Holiday), and 11 for the Patriots (Drew Bledsoe and Julian Edelman).
I also happen to follow teams that retire a lot of numbers — the Celtics have retired 26 (plus “LOSCY” for Jim Loscutoff, who wore 18 before Dave Cowens, and a microphone for Johnny Most), the Bruins 12, the Red Sox 11 (including Jackie Robinson’s 42), and the Patriots eight.1 Other teams retire far, far fewer numbers. For example, when the Mariners retire Ichiro Suzuki’s No. 51 in August, that will be their fourth retired number, including No. 42, which was of course retired leaguewide in 1997. The Mariners didn’t retire their first number (Ken Griffey Jr.) until 2016, their 50th season.
Ichiro’s 51 was also worn by Randy Johnson, meaning that until the club announced their intention to retire No. 51, M’s fans had a pretty easy answer to this question.
Which number a player chooses to wear are often deeply personal — perhaps they want to honor a former teammate, or an idol. As someone who follows soccer closely, number retirements in that sport are extraordinarily rare — there are only 12 retired numbers in all of English professional soccer. The club I follow, Manchester United, notably does not retire numbers. After the introduction of squad numbers in England in 1993 (prior to that, each starter was given a number from 1-11 to correspond with their position), the No. 7 has traditionally gone to United’s best player, going from Eric Cantona (1993-1997) to David Beckham (1997-2003) to Cristiano Ronaldo (2003-2009). That makes this exercise rather easy for United — No. 7 is our best unretired number.
Since Ronaldo’s departure, though, no United player given No. 7 has been able to live up to the lofty expectations the number provides. Antonio Valencia switched back to No. 25 after one season, Ángel Di María left after one season, Alexis Sánchez became one of the most expensive disasters in English football history, Edinson Cavani was fine, Ronaldo came back and was awesome but then fought with the manager and got cut, and Mason Mount has been perpetually injured (but really good when he does play).
I guess what I’m saying is, part of me sort of wishes United had retired 7 for Cantona, Beckham, or Ronaldo, as no player since Ronaldo’s first departure has lived up to the legacy left by those three.
But I’ve rambled enough. What is your team’s best non-retired number? Should it be retired? Are there specific reasons as to why it’s not retired? Comment below!
1: Funnily enough, Tom Brady is the only dynasty-era Patriots player to have had his number retired as of writing.
For the Phillies, I’ll take #45: Zach Wheeler, Tom Gordon, Terry Mulhollond, Tug McGraw. And, of course, Yorkis Perez.
No way. It’s gotta be 26, for the great Gene Garber. Oh yeah, some dude named Chad Utley, I think it was, wore it. So I guess him, too.
Jeff Stone and Ron Jones would like a word with you about #26, sir.
#45 was also Pedro Martinez. I think this is the winner for the Phillies.
#10 would be another, especially if you like catchers.
#8 hits Bob Boone, Joe Morgan, Shane Victorino and Nick Castellanos.
#40 flies under the radar but was worn by 2 Cy Young winners with the Phillies.
Cleveland: #24 (Manny Ramirez, Grady Sizemore, Andrew Miller)
For the Reds #41. Joe Nuxhall, Tom Seaver and Lou Pinella.
Great picks, for sure.
I’ll go with #21:
Hunter Greene (2022-2024)
Michael Lorenzen (2016-2021)
Todd Frazier (2011-2015)
Scott Hatteberg (2006-2008)
Sean Casey (1998-2005)
Deion Sanders (1995-1997)
Tony Fernández (1994)
Paul O’Neill (1985-1992)
Vince DiMaggio (1940)
Paul Derringer (1933)
College football doesn’t really retire numbers. I’d expect many fans could compile some impressive lists.
That’s the truth. Be interesting to see a deep dive of that. As an Ohio State fan I can’t tell you that 2, 7, and 10 are consistently given to some of the top players that ever wear the Scarlet and Gray.
penn state #31
Penn State is #11…Stix City!
Nebraska retires jerseys and not numbers which has been a good move. Only #60 is permanently retired because it was retired not by the University but by the letterman’s club for Tom ‘Trainwreck ‘ Novak.
Off the top of my head, #7 is a good one to start with for NU: Eric Crouch, Scott Frost, and DeMario Williams. There were a lot of #7 jerseys sold and when I see one walking around I always wonder who the wearer associates the jersey with.
Aside: One of my favorite uni quirks from the great 1980/90s NU football run was that Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride would often sport a grey team-issue Nebraska Football sweatshirt on the sidelines. You know the old-school type. NEBRASKA above a red oval and FOOTBALL below and the player’s number in the oval (or football). McBride would always wear #60. That told me that after they printed those for the players and the players all picked up their number, there was always a #60 or two sitting around, so McBride would grab them to wear. No fancy coaching gear for him.
For the Jets, probably #24 (Johnny Sample, Freeman McNeil, Darrelle Revis).
For the Mets, maybe #45 (Tug McGraw, John Franco, Pedro Martinez). Or #20 (Tommie Agee, Howard Johnson, Pete Alonso).
The Vancouver Canucks could retire no. 1. There are 2 worthy players but there would be the huge debate about which 2 goalies it should be retired for in the market (Kirk McLean, Roberto Luongo). So both players ended up in the Ring of Honour and no. 1 will not be retired.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders should have retired no. 81 for Ray Elgaard. A 13-season Rider lifer. 3 times Most Outstanding Canadian. Canadian Football HOF. 4-time CFL All-Star. When all-time CFL receiving leader Geroy Simon joined the team they let Geroy wear No. 81 which was fine considering Geroy’s stature. However, The Riders still hand out no. 81 to really average players. Elgaard is a legend. Retire it!
Montreal Canadiens fan. I’ll nominate #11. Brendan Gallagher today, great captain Saku Koivu, 1993 Cup winner Kirk Muller, lovely ambassador Yvon Lambert from the 70’s…let’s not really talk about Scott Gomez please and thanks
#22 Steve Shutt
For the Nats, I think #47
Gio Gonzales was a mainstay in the rotation for 6 or 7 years.
Then Howie Kendrick took over #47 and hit the most important home run in DC history. Two weeks later, he did it again and won the World Series.
I’m pretty confident #31 and #37 will be retired for Scherzer and Strasburg.
#17 for the burgundy and gold – two Super Bowl QBs and now Terry Mclaurin.
#24 and #25 have to be up there for the Yankees
Hard disagree on #2 for the Red Sox. It’s #3 simply because of Jimmie Foxx, who is the most underrated hitter in team history.
The fact that the Cardinals won’t retire the numbers of non-Hall of Famers makes this question interesting for a St. Louis fan. There has been a longstanding call to retire #51 for Willie McGee, even though he’ll never make the Hall.
I love that they don’t retire them unless they make the HoF, and i kinda wish they insisted on ten years of service with the team too. Too many teams retire to many numbers
Saying Mason Mount is really good when he does play gave me a real good chuckle, lol.
For the Mets, it has to be #7. Ed Kranepool, Hubie Brooks, Kevin Mitchell, Todd Pratt, and Jose Reyes.
Meh. Kranepool and Reyes, sure, but Brooks was a journeyman, Pratt was a backup, and Mitchell was a Met for one season.
Todd Pratt had one of the most iconic HRs in Mets postseason history. He was also a beloved, hard nosed backup for Mike Piazza that the fans loved.
Kevin Mitchell was an important part of the 1986 season and title team. Many Mets fans are still bummed out over the insanely idiotic trade following that season (he went on to win the 1989 MVP for the Giants).
I’m pretty sure the Mets felt they had to trade Mitch, as they didn’t want him to be a “bad influence” on Doc and Darryl.
That worked out well.
There aren’t many numbers retired based on a single “iconic moment.” Bill Mazeroski, maybe. But Mazeroski played 17 years for the same franchise, was a 10-time All-Star and won eight gold gloves at his position. And he’s a Hall of Famer for both reasons.
I also can’t think of any numbers retired for “beloved, hard-nosed backups that the fans loved.” Or for players who were “an important part of” a single championship season and played literally their entire careers elsewhere. Let alone who are not Hall of Famers.
None of this is to say that Pratt and Mitchell weren’t good players, or didn’t make important contributions to the Mets. But the bar for retiring a number is (and should be) somewhat higher. Heck, I would love to see the Mets retire #40 for Bartolo Colon, but that doesn’t mean they should.
For the New York Mets it has to be #8. Three NLDS and two World Series with that number – Gary Carter in 1986 and coach Yogi Berra in 1969 and 1973. #8 should have been retired city-wide years ago just for Berra.
Yogi wasn’t just a coach. He was manager in 1973 and skipped that team to one of the most incredible runs of all-time. I was a seven year old completely fascinated by the Mets that summer and fall (and went to a couple games with my pop and little league team that season). I think they were in last place in the NL East as late as August 31st (doing this from a faulty memory) and going on an incredible run to eke out the NL East. Then they beat the Big Red Machine and took the A’s (in the middle of their three year reign) to seven games. I was just a bit too young to remember Gil Hodges, so to me Yogi was the manager.
With both Carter and Yogi now passed, it’s time Cohen to quietly retire No. 8 for those two. By the old Mets criteria for retiring numbers, neither Yogi nor Carter would have qualified for retirement, but those criteria have clearly been loosened. They could have a short, infield ceremony with the families and a couple tribute videos and then put No. 8 up in the rafters.
I would say No. 10 for the Spirit (Rose Lavelle, Ashley Sanchez, and now Leicy Santos) followed closely by No. 2 (Trinity Rodman) but can’t think of a good one for D.C. United. The Spirit do have a retired number (15), but the banners DCU used to have up didn’t survive the move to Audi Field.
No. 8 for the Capitals (it’s not retired yet!)
And, sorry, Ella Toone isn’t United’s best No. 7? She played the same number of games last season, which is a much shorter league season, than Mount has in the past two.
24 has to be it for the Patriots. Ty Law, Darrelle Revis, Stephon Gilmore. A lot of fans wanted Christian Gonzalez to wear it to continue the tradition.
White Sox #15
Dick Allen, Sandy Alomar, Tadahito Iguchi, Gordon Beckham. Also, Frank Thomas as a rookie in 1990 before switching to #35
I used to appreciate how the Lakers only retired All-Time Greats. Baylor, West, Chamberlain, Kareem, and Magic. Then they started with others like Worthy, Goodrich, and Gasol. Great players, but not of the likes of the previous players. When you retire too many, like the Celtics, it devalues it. I love how my alma mater USC only retires Heisman winners. They’ve had many other worthy players like Ronnie Lott, Junior Seau and Ricky Bell, to name a few, but if they retired all the greats they’d have a real shortage of numbers. CFB already has too many numbers that are being shared by offensive and defensive players. But the best unretired number for USC is 55. This number is famous for the great linebackers who have worn it, and is now only given to a player with that huge potential. Some of the past greats who have worn it are Junior Seau, Willie McGinest, Chris Claiborne, and Keith Rivers.
Worthy was worthy of the honor.
I understand this sentiment. Worthy is close for me. However, when Worthy retired he wasn’t considered the best small forward of all time. When Baylor, West, Chamberlain, Kareem, and Magic retired, they were considered by many as the best all-time for their position. I for one would take Russell over Chamberlain and Kareem, and I’m a life long Lakers fan, but it’s splitting hairs and I’m good to have these 3 in a tie, with all 3 having a legitimate case for being the best center.
And I’d also include Kobe and Shaq, since they are arguably top 10 players of all time, and a three-peat and two more titles with Kobe make it impossible to not include them.
Would you accept Lakers retiring Karl Malone’s number, then? Big Game James Worthy is worthy. Easy pick for the NBA’s 50 greatest and easier pick for Lakers retired jerseys. I like Byron Scott and Michael Cooper and glad Coop got his number retired but I’d say that Worthy and Cooper were much worthier than someone like Scott, who I like. No question Worthy benefited from playing with Magic and Kareem like Scotty Pippen benefited from playing with MJ, but he is still vwry integral to the Lakers in the 80s. Pau Gasol was also very good and a global ambassador, too, and won medals for Spain. There are some ppl who does not think LeBron should get his 23 retired by the Lakers (much less both 6 and 23), but while everyone is entitled to their own list, there is only one official list and the owner can make that call and we can all argue about it later. What’s our next topic: Oscar snubs?
Yankees also have way too many retired numbers.
Aaron Donald’s #99 should’ve been retired by the Rams the day he retired, though I imagine it will happen in the near future.
Kevin Garnett’s 21 for the Minnesota Timberwolves. It would have been retired long ago except that ownership alienated Garnett after coach Flip Saunders died.
For the Red Sox, number 25 has to be considered. Tony Conigliaro wore it as the youngest of player to reach 100 home runs. He was on pace to be a perennial all star and potential hall of famer until his beaning in 1967.
88 on the Cowboys is a pretty special number with a tradition associated with it
I think you can make the case several Raiders numbers 12, 16 and 32 had some legendary players wear it.
Deh Raidehs don’t retire numbers, so you end up with scrubs like Rusty Hilger and Todd Marinovich wearing Kenny Stabler’s #12; yes, Rich Gannon wore it too. There are a lot of numbers that franchise could/should retire; 75 for Howie Long, 63 for Gene Upshaw, 16 for George Blanda and Jim Plunkett, 25 for Fred Biletnikoff, 83 for Ted Hendricks, 81 for Tim Brown, 8 for Ray Guy ……
32 is a tough one; Jack Tatum was a great Raider but had some infamous moments in his career, and although I know they patched things up later things got very rough with Marcus Allen after 1985.
Patriots, 24
Ty Law, Darelle Revis, Stephon Gilmore
Each one won at least 1 championship in that number
‘The Mariners didn’t retire their first number (Ken Griffey Jr.) until 2016, their 50th season.’
Did you mean to say their 40th season? They started playing in 1977.
SF GIANTS #22 Will Clark
That happened a while ago.
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Jimmy Smith for the Jaguars.
#15 for the Denver Nuggets!!! Interestingly, Carmelo Anthony believed (believes?) the Nuggets issued that jersey to Nikola Jokic as an insult, which I don’t personally believe is true as Jokic has been wearing #15 since before the Nuggets drafted him.
From 1946 to 1982 the Dodgers saw #6 worn every season by one of three players: Carl Furillo, Ron Fairly, and Steve Garvey. While none are Hall of Fame players, they were each instrumental in numerous playoff and World Series runs over their careers. After Garvey, #6 was out of player circulation for 30 years but has since been worn mostly by 1-and-done Dodgers like Jolbert Cabrera, Kenny Lofton, Curtis Granderson, Cavan Biggio and Taylor Trammell. But for nearly 40 years it was anchored by Dodgers notables.
Tigers: Lou Whitaker’s No. 1
Saints: Drew Brees’ No. 9
Sweet Lou had his number 1 retired back in 2022. Now he just needs to get into the Hall of Fame!
Sergei Fedorov. Supposedly the Red Wings only retire numbers for Hall-of-Famers so he’s way overdue.
Mariners are only retiring 51 for Ichiro. Why not for Johnson as well?
Yankees retired 8 for Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey.
Cubs retired 31 for Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux
Carew, Aaron, Maddux, Hodges, Fingers, Mays, had the same number retired by 2 teams.
Frank Robinson had his 20 retired by 3.
Biggest joke of a retired number is #1 by the Brewers for Bud Selig.
Makes no sense for the Mariners to not retire 51 for both Ichiro and the Big Unit.
#1 for bud selig? the minnesota wild retired #1 for the fans
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The Marlins retired (but have since unretired) #5 for Carl Barger, because he liked Joe DiMaggio. This is worse, as is the Miami Heat retiring Michael Jordan’s #23. Do better, Miami.
The sport that will never retire a number is Rugby, where numbers are assigned by the position you play on the field. 1-8 front row/scrum; 9-15 Backs/Wings; 16 and above used for substitutes.
It’s very silly the Bills started reissuing the number 32 after almost 45 years a few years ago. Despite what you think of OJ after his playing career, 32 identifies with one player only. What’s worse is they have issued it in recent years to fringe or practice squad guys aka irrelevant players.
Two numbers the Bills should have retired long ago and not yet, Andre Reed 83. Hall of famer most prolific receiver in franchise history. Also Jack Kemp 15. Won Bills only 2 league championships in 64 and 65, prior to Super Bowl existence. Also represented Buffalo area in congress for almost 20 years after his retirement.
Milwaukee Bucks #34. Terry Cummings, Ray Allen, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Fear the Deer!
Washington Caps, gotta be Peter Bondra #12
Apparently, there aren’t many Yankees fans commenting here, so I figured I’d chime in with a number I noticed has had some notable players have used, but is not retired…#22.
Right off the bat: Jimmy Key, Roger Clemens, Robinson Cano, Jacoby Ellsbury held it the whole time he was inactive, and Harrison Bader held it for just over a year until Juan Soto had it last year.
Also, you could look at another number Robinson Cano wore in pinstripes: #24, which Ricky Henderson, Tino Martinez & Gary Sanchez wore as well.
There’s a couple really strong cases for the Yankees. 24 is solid like you said. 25 has some Very Goods in Giambi, Tex, and Gleyber. 30 also has a surprisingly strong case thanks to Willie Randolph, Mel Stottlemyre, and more recently, David Robertson and (dare I jinx it?) Luke Weaver.
As a lifelong Bruins fan, I agree with #19 — but for Johnny McKenzie above the others.
Something I’ve always wondered about in English soccer: “prior to [1993], each starter was given a number from 1-11 to correspond with their position” — if a player was suddenly put in an unexpected position, or a substitute was suddenly starting, did they actually swap the physical shirts before the game? What did they do if the two players were of wildly different sizes?
I feel like I’m missing something very simple here because the numbers are still sewn on to the jerseys. Japanese high school baseball has something like this, with the players picked for a tournament given the numbers 1 to 18, but there the numbers are printed on fabric panels that can be velcro-ed on and swapped easily:
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So how was this handled in soccer if the player’s number wasn’t fixed for the entire season?
I don’t know, but in addition to the issues you mentioned, formations (and thus positions) have evolved over time. Sometimes teams change in the middle of a match! So what happens if you’re playing, say, 3 center backs rather than 2?
There’s a lot of interesting information here: link
Orel Hershiser was 55 for the Dodgers. He had some iconic moments and great seasons.
I would say 66 for any team: it is my favorite uniform number.
Ravens technically do not retire numbers, but no one has worn 52, 20, 75 or 55 (Ray lewis, Ed Reed, Jon Odgen and Terrell Suggs). So, sort of easy choices there.
As for Orioles it maybe 35. Orioles only will retire number if you go into Hall of Fame (as an oriole). So even though Mike Mussina is in HOF he is not wearing an oriole’s hat. So, the number is not retired. A few players have worn it since, and now most notably one of leagues biggest starts Adley Rutschman wears it.
For the Orioles, in addition to 35, I think honorable mention goes to 25 for really good players (yes, including Jay Gibbons) who have worn the number
Moe Drabowsky
Don Baylor
Rich Dauer
Rafael Palmeiro
Jay Gibbons
Jim Thome
Anthony Santander
I like 25 as the honorable mention, and yes to Jay Gibbons. I always joked is career went downhill after he had to change his number from 25 to 31.
Agree with you, Anthony, on the Bruins #19. In addition to the players you mentioned, Johnny McKenzie, Greg Shepard and Normand Leveille all wore 19.
Packers: #12 for Zeke Bratkowski, Lynn DIckey, John Hadl, Arnie Herber and TJ Rubley.
The Boston Bruins retired #3 in honor of Lionel Hitchman on 2.22.1934
Hitchman was the second NHL’er to have his number retired.
The first was Irvine “Ace” Bailey whose number had been retired 8 days previously on 2.14.1934
But there is more to the story…..
Bailey was the first player in all of professional sports at the time (MLB, NFL, NHL) to have his number retired. However, Bailey’s number did not stay retired. He was a minor official at Maple Leaf Garden and in the mid 1960’s took a liking to Leafs’ winger Ron Ellis. Ellis had previously worn #’s 8 & 11 but agreed to wear #6 in honor of Bailey so the number came out of retirement and Ellis wore it until his retirement in 1980.
#6 then went back into retirement.
However, since Hitchman’s #3 was retired on 2.22.1934 no other Bruin has worn #3.
With that in mind, Lionel Hitchman’s #3 is the longest consecutively retired number in major league sports history (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA).
Cubs: 21, hopefully Sosa being welcomed back into the fold means this number won’t be active for long
Bears: 54, though I haven’t seen anyone wear it since Urlacher
Blackhawks: 19, 88, 10, 2, 7 (for Seabrook), 50, though I imagine most if not all of those numbers are gonna be retired in no more than 10 years
Bulls: 91 historically for Rodman, 13 more recently for Joakim Noah (currently worn by Kevin Huerter)
Cubs 44–Phil Cavarretta, Kyle Farnsworth, Anthony Rizzo
Haven’t looked through the comments to see if someone’s done the Cardinals, but I’d say either #15 (Jim Edmonds, Tim McCarver, Darrell Porter, one year of Dick Allen), or #7 (Matt Holiday, J.D. Drew, Reggie Smith, Joe Medwick).
Honorable mention to #21 (mostly for Curt Flood, although Bake McBride and Paul Dean wore it too), or #22 (David Eckstein, Mike Matheny, Jack Clark).
Not saying they SHOULD retire them — the Cardinals have plenty of retired numbers, and I like the Hall of Fame requirement — but they’re the best non-retired ones.
What is the stats of number 44 at Syracuse? Still given to the team’s best player, or has it been retired?
For the Brewers, I’ll volunteer 20: Gorman Thomas, Don Sutton, Jeromy Burnitz, and Jonathan Lucroy all wore it, and more recently it was worn by fan favorites Wade Miley and Dan Vogelbach.
11 is an honorable mention with Richie Sexson, Rowdy Tellez, and Jackson Chourio (and to a lesser extent Gary Sheffield, Dave Nilsson, Hideo Nomo, Lyle Overbay, and Mike Moustakas).
Dallas Cowboys
88 Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin (both HOF), Dez Bryant (team leader in receiving TDs), CeeDee Lamb.
54 Chuck Howley and Randy White HOF
22 Bob Hayes and Emmett Smith HOF
70 Rayfield Wright (HOF) Zack Martin (likely HOF)
94 Charles Haley and Demarcus Ware HOF
43 Cliff Harris (HOF) Don Perkins (60s RB in Ring of Honor)
72 Ed Too Tall Jones and Travis Fredrick (great players, should get more HOF consideration)
I think the Patriots have stopped officially retiring numbers while making a notable exception for Brady’s number 12. And number 56 hasn’t been worn since Andre Tippett, although it is not officially retired.
As for numbers that are available, I’d go with:
24 (Law, Gilmore, Revis, and Bob Gladieux if only for the epic start to his pro football career)
54 (Bruschi and Hightower)
87 (Gronk, Coates, Givens)
Yankees #25 – Irv Noren, Joe Pepitone, Bobby Bonds, Willie Randolph, Tommy John, Jim Abbott, Cecil Fielder, Joe Girardi, Jason Giambi, Mark Teixeira, Gleyber Torres